"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." ~ C. S. Lewis (Yes, even politics)

In loving memory of Mr. Z

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday Faith Post II....a story about Christmas and kindness

Please read the original Sunday Faith Blog post below and comment; I just rec'd this email and thought it so nice I'd share it with you today;

By Reporter Joseph Curl:

Every year, in the week between Christmas and New Year‘s, I think
about George W. Bush.

It was in that week each year for the eight that I covered him as
a reporter that he gave me a spectacular gift — and he knew it.

I started covering the newly elected president in 2000, when I was
in my late 30s. Back then, as a reporter for The Washington Times, we went
everywhere the president went. If he went to Charlotte , N.C. , to give a
30-minute speech on an airport tarmac, we went. Up at 4 a.m., an hourlong
commute to Andrews Air Force Base, in place on the ground hours before POTUS
landed, and there for hours and hours after he left — sometimes right through
the evening news so network reporters could file live from the site.

We also went with the president to Texas every summer — often for
a month — and every winter, too, over the holidays.

But here’s the thing: In December, we never left Washington , D.C.
, until the day after Christmas. Never. Mr. Bush and his wife Laura would
always depart the White House a few days before the holiday and hunker down at
the presidential retreat in Maryland , Camp David . After a few years, I asked
a low-level White House staffer why.

I still remember what she said: “So all of us can be with our
families on Christmas.”

Who was “us”? Hundreds and hundreds of people, that’s who. Sure,
the reporters who covered the president, but also dozens and dozens on his
staff, a hundred Secret Service agents, maybe more, and all of those cops
required whenever the president’s on the move in D.C.

For me, that one-day delay was huge. My kids were 6 and 8 when
Bush took office. When he went home to Prairie Chapel that last time in 2009,
my girl was driving, the boy was 6 foot 1. But in the meantime, I was home for
eight Christmas mornings, playing Santa, stoking the fire, mixing up hot
chocolates.

That was President Bush. And every year for the last five, I’ve
thought about what that meant to me. (By the way, some years, I got holiday
duty, which meant I was off to Waco , Texas , the day after Christmas. But once
again, the Bush White House had us covered: A press plane flew out with the
president, and back then, reporters could pay $100 per family member for the
plane ride. So sometimes, the family went along. For the kids, it was an
adventure; for me, well, we were all together).

All that has changed with President Obama. No more press plane,
for one. Reporters are on their own — so taking family is, say, $1,000 a pop.
Not likely. And this president would never delay his trip to his island getaway.
He’s off every year well before Christmas. Hundreds and hundreds head off with
him, leaving family behind.

No Christmas at home. Instead, the Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach
Resort. Nice, but not exactly home.

Anyway, that’s why I think of George W. Bush every year in the
week between Christmas and New Year‘s. Probably will till I die. Thanks, GWB.

• Joseph
Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The
Washington Times and is now editor of the Drudge Report. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com
and on Twitter @josephcurl.

4 comments:

Yes, this jibes with several personal stories I have read about President Bush. The thoughtfulness and genuine human interest he had in people went well beyond when the press cameras had left and there was no political reason to linger. He, or he and Laura, would stay and mix with folks for another hour or more. I recall one event with wounded soldiers specifically. This isn't a policy comment - but he was a truly decent man. I hope each of us can draw from such a reserve of kindness in our own way.

Who's surprised by this revelation? Come on..are we kids? We know Obutthead is a narcissistic, hedonistic, selfish, petulant man / child...unconcerned, unaware, unknowing, uncaring, unfeeling, cold, disconnected, dispassionate, unaccountable, lying POS....surrounded by fawning, acolytes, dedicated to the messiah, the myth, the color, the tribe, the theology of hate, the diatribes of Wright, the hit men like Sharpton, the hustlers, the choomers, the media whores, the myth, the lies proffered by a Pravda like media...

The bling, the trappings, the travel, the fine wine, the steak, the rib's, the fried chicken...and screw the rest of them. The workers, the serfs, the whites, the blacks especially....and the Constitution.

This MF...needs a lawyer...and bail. Along with the handcuffs. Rolex of course.

Baysider....so many nice stories like that, but most folks don't hear them. He did stay longer than most, and he has those amazing bike races with wounded soldiers and visited Walter Reed without the cameras; amazing guy. He felt very deeply about sending those kids to war.

BZ; yes. And remember how the media blasted Bush for going to Crawford so often? And playing golf this often? Have you heard anybody admit Obama's played SO many more times? I have no problem with a president getting some R&R, but the hypocrisy of the media's astonishing..

Imp...just thought I'd share it; not real surprised, but it's a story we haven't heard about Bush.

"Freedom is never more than one generation away fromextinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must befought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day wewill spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children whatit was once like in the United States where men werefree." -- Ronald Reagan

remember

Andrew Breitbart...American Hero

Mac 'n GeeeZis my food blog...enjoy! Sorry I haven't added to it in a long while.

President Obama has done such a horrible job with the economy and foreign policy that now Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States :-)

important reminders:

We are surrounded by IDIOTS...Mr. Z

“Barack Obama's political genius is his ability to say things that will sound good to people who have not followed the issues in any detail —regardless of how obviously fraudulent what he says may be to those who have. Shameless effrontery can be a huge political asset, especially if uninformed voters outnumber those who are informed.” Thomas Sowell.........AMENTolerance is the last virtue of a dying society. (doesn't matter who wrote it, it's true and it's here)

The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal.... Peter Brimelow

The difference between golf and government is that in golf you can't improve your lie. ~George Deukmejian

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